Ed Hochuli's acknowledgement that he erred on a call late in Sunday's San Diego-Denver game will mean lower grades for one of the NFL's highest profile referees.

"Officials are held accountable for their calls. They are graded on every play of every game," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said yesterday. "Ed has been an outstanding official for many years, but he will be marked down for this call. Under our evaluation system, an official's grades impact his status for potentially working the playoffs and ultimately whether or not he is retained."

The play occurred with the Broncos at the Chargers 1-yard line in the final minute. Denver quarterback Jay Cutler dropped back to pass, the ball slipped out of his hands, bounced off the grass and into the arms of San Diego linebacker Tim Dobbins.

Hochuli ruled it an incomplete pass. Replay ruled it a fumble, but it was spotted at the 10-yard line, where the ball hit the ground, and given to Denver because the rules did not permit possession to be awarded to San Diego because the whistle had blown.

Denver went on to score, convert a 2-point conversion and win, 39-38.

The play also is likely to be reviewed in the offseason by the league's competition committee, which normally reviews all controversial plays.

"It's going to require a great deal of discussion," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the co-chairman of the competition committee. "It's happened at times. It happened in a game against us at Indianapolis years ago. ... When the whistle blows and the pass is ruled incomplete, there's just no way currently that you can award possession."

For example, until March 2007, down-by-contact plays were not reviewable. That rule was changed so that they were reviewable, and if a fumble occurred even after the whistle blew, the team recovering it got possession.

San Diego coach Norv Turner said he spoke with NFL officials yesterday and that the Chargers sent in video of the plays in question.

"As for things that occurred during the game, in my mind, they're done," Turner said. "We sent the plays in to the league that we had in question. We expect to get a response back. Anything that we talk about or anything that is discussed in terms of any of the rules or any of the calls isn't going to change the outcome of that game. That game is going to be 39-38, forever."

TEXANS

HOUSTON WILL RETURN TO RELIANT STADIUM TODAY

The Houston Texans will resume practicing today with uncertainty about their future after Hurricane Ike seriously damaged Reliant Stadium.

Aerial photos of the stadium's retractable roof showed five pieces missing, with four of them concentrated on one end of the stadium, and officials said large pieces of debris had fallen into the stadium.

The $352 million stadium, which was the first in the NFL to have a retractable roof, has been the Texans' home since their inception in 2002.

ELSEWHERE

Chargers: San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman was fined $7,500 for a hit on Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme in his only game this season. Merriman was fined for unnecessarily striking Delhomme below the knees in a 26-24 Panthers' win Sept. 7, league spokesman Corry Rush said. Merriman announced two days after that game that he would have surgery on two torn ligaments in his left knee.

Falcons: Falcons safety Lawyer Milloy was arrested on DUI and speeding charges in suburban Atlanta early yesterday, just hours after Atlanta lost to Tampa Bay. Gwinnett County police charged the 34-year-old Milloy with driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding. Milloy, who lives in nearby Buford, was booked into the suburban Atlanta jail at 4:35 a.m. and posted a bond of more than $1,600 about five hours later.

Titans: Tennessee is sticking with veteran Kerry Collins as its starting quarterback as long as the team keeps winning. Coach Jeff Fisher said so yesterday following the Titans' 24-7 win at Cincinnati. The Titans had not given any projection for Vince Young's return from his sprained left knee except to rule him out against Cincinnati.

Panthers: Steve Smith is back with Carolina, just in time to join a team full of confidence after a surprising 2-0 start. The receiver's two-game suspension for breaking teammate Ken Lucas' nose in a training camp fight ended yesterday morning.

Seahawks: Logan Payne is going on injured reserve because of a torn knee ligament and Seneca Wallace is out up to a month with a calf injury. They become the fifth and sixth Seahawks wide receivers injured this season.

Browns: Cleveland defensive end Robaire Smith sustained a potentially season-ending injury to his left Achilles during Sunday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bears: Chicago has no timetable for the return of return specialist Devin Hester, who hurt his ribs Sunday against Carolina.